I can’t be the only person in Virginia slightly bewildered by McAuliffe’s choices for his cabinet.
For starters, the Secretary of the Commonwealth? Not only does his experience consist in being a knife man for the Democratic Party, Levar Stoney has — well — questionably involved himself in the activity of actually knifing the tires of Republican operatives, earning him the nickname “slash” amongst longstanding RPV operatives for many years now. Given the history of those who have held the office, Stoney is — at best — a rather unserious choice.
Maurice Jones as Secretary of Commerce is an interesting pick indeed. There was nothing remarkable about Jones’ tenure as city manager in Charlottesville, other than the fact that he survived the gauntlet. On paper, Jones is qualified — but not necessarily for the position of Secretary of Commerce.
Then there is this morning’s curious case of Anne Holton, who has been recently selected as Secretary of Education. McAuliffe’s primary reason for selecting her, according to the Daily Progress?
“Anne Holton’s lifetime of experience with Virginia public schools, her public service on behalf of Virginia students and her passion for creating opportunity for all of our kids make her the best choice to join my administration as secretary of education,” McAuliffe said.
For the past year, Holton has directed Great Expectations, a Virginia Community College System initiative that helps young people who are aging out of foster care continue their education. As first lady, from 2006 to 2010, she launched an initiative aimed at helping find homes for older children in foster care and promoted Kaine’s efforts to expand access to early childhood education.
McAuliffe noted that Holton “had a front-row seat” to her father’s promotion of racial integration when she attended predominantly black public schools in Richmond.
Does that resume strike anyone else as particularly thin? When McAuliffe could have chosen from 134 school administrators?
Now granted, the role of school superintendent and secretary of education are far different from one another. Holton’s experience with the VCCS will be highly instructive, and perhaps there is something to be said about her position as an outsider to Virginia public education (we all know we need more of that). But that’s not how McAuliffe chose to recast Holton at all.
I dunno… the selections just seem rather odd. Of course, four years ago it was almost like a fire sale, but at least the selections at the end of the day were competent and dependable human beings. Which, after all, might be what T-Mac is looking for at the end of the day.
